Benicio Del Toro Eyes Inherent Vice

Benicio Del Toro is, according to The Wrap, eyeing a role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming big screen adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. The novel, published in 2009, is officially described as follows:

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon- private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era.

In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there.

It’s been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” except that this one usually leads to trouble.

Del Toro, who most recently starred in Oliver Stone’s Savages, would star opposite Joaquin Phoenix, playing an unlicensed attorney to the Doc Sportello character.